Formula 1: Spanish GP Overview

It has been a long time coming for Williams, but their triumphant return to the top step of the podium has finally come at last at the hands of Venezuela's Pastor Maldonado. In what is proving to be a surprising season of twists and turns, Maldonado put in a gritty performance to seal his first victory, and Williams' first since 2004.

With five races gone, we have seen five different winners from five different teams. Who could have predicted that before the start of the year? 2012 is shaping up to be a classic season that runs right to the final race.

Following Lewis Hamilton's qualifying exclusion, Maldonado was promoted to pole position ahead of Alonso. What was surprising about this was that the Williams driver got there on pace alone. He outpaced the Ferrari, both Lotus drivers, Perez and Rosberg. He didn't inherit the pole, but earned it. The same can be said for the race win. Dropped to second after the first corner, Maldonado kept focus and stayed with Alonso throughout the race. Keeping a driver of Alonso's calibre honest on home soil is no mean feat. Pitting on lap 25 before Alonso, Maldonado put in a blinding fastest lap of the race to move ahead of Fernando.

From there on it was a matter of just managing the tyre wear and keeping the Ferrari at arms length. Once or twice in the final stint Alonso was close enough to the Williams to open the DRS on his rear wing but, much to the dismay of the Spanish crowd, was never able to find a way past Maldonado.

Raikkonen and Grosjean finished a strong third and fourth, highlighting the pace Lotus continue to develop. It won't be long before one of them is also on the the top step of the podium, with my money on Raikkonen being the first of the two.

Kobayashi put in some daring moves to finish an impressive fifth, whilst Vettel recovered well from a drive-through penalty to take sixth. It was a day to forget for both Button and Webber. For Jenson, it must be frustrating to know that in Melbourne he was out and out the fastest. Here, only two months later, he can only manage ninth, in a car that he struggles to understand and maximise. Webber didn't come in the points and hardly featured in the race at all. His qualifying performance put him on the back foot but I did expect more from him in the race.

Lewis Hamilton put in a mature drive to recover from his penalty. 24th on the grid must have been hard to swallow for the Brit but he put it behind him and drove admirably. His move on both Toro Rosso's was impressive to say the least. What he could have done starting from the front is hard to say. His run of bad luck is bound to end sooner or later. He will hopefully take heart in the fact that he is only eight points behind Vettel and Alonso.

The Schumacher and Senna incident into Turn One was pretty clear cut from my perspective: Senna held the racing line and was moving to hit the apex of the corner when Schumacher misjudged the braking point and put them both out of the running. For Schumacher to heft the blame on Senna was pretty unfair on the Brazilian. Three retirements from five races must be disappointing for Schumacher but he needs to accept the blame for something at some point in his life, this being one of them.

Felipe Massa is bound to be really feeling the pressure now. At this rate, there is no doubt in my mind that Ferrari bosses Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali will be looking to replace him before the end of the year. With Alonso heading the table alongside Vettel, Massa is languishing in 17th, still just two points to his name.

So onto Monaco in two weeks time. It's the jewel in F1's crown and, if 2012 so far is anything to go by, it'll be a classic. For me, I'd love to see a Lotus win it. They have been on the cusp for the last two rounds, and to win at Monaco would be a real boost for them. Either that, or Lewis Hamilton. He's had a poor run of luck and Monaco would be the perfect place to turn it all around and seal that elusive first win of the year.